ERIC PETERS

(EABEBE / capo 7)
To the thrill of tens of people, I had just released my first solo album, More than Watchmen, and had recently read John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, in April 1999. I’ve always been influenced by stories of father-son relationships. Between April 10 – May 1, 1999 I wrote my version of this now-legendary folk tale that Krakauer researched. I was interested in the father’s thoughts once he found out that his son, Christopher, had died so needlessly. I wrote the song from Mr. McCandless’ perspective.

The relationship between father and son is a fine line, it seems. Habits are deeply rooted and hard to break. For good and bad, whether we like it or not, we are often the spitting image of the man who reared us. You can change your name, but you can never change the truth.

Sidenote: if you’ve read the book then you’ve probably noticed that the bus number is actually 142, not 152. A mere oversight on my part. I plead the 5th. It wasn’t until AFTER I’d recorded it that I noticed my “error”. Either way, I like the way “152” sounds when it rolls off the tongue because it’s more inflective. I claim it as “artistic freedom”. This book was recently made into a movie by the same name. Directed by Sean Penn, starring Emile Hersch and Vince Vaughn.